4wd vs awd

[Dave Aukerman]

Yes, until you lock the diffs.

Dave

----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Turlington" <rturlington at qwest.net>
To: "Lee M. Levitt" <lee at wheelman.com>; <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2001 8:02 AM
Subject: RE: 4wd vs awd


> Does that mean cars like the LandCruiser are actually considered to be all
> wheel drive?
>
> At 08:28 AM 4/27/01 -0400, Lee M. Levitt wrote:
> >Robert Turlington <rturlington at qwest.net> writes:
> > >
> > > I all ways thought, and please correct me if I'm wrong:
> > >
> > > 4wd:  Is for off road use only and forces the front
> > > wheels to turn at the same speed as the back wheels.  This causes
> >excessive wear
> > > on tires, drive, and steering components on dry pavement
> >
> >Almost. Many 4wd systems have this problem, felt when 4wd is engaged and
you
> >try to take a slow sharp turn, in the form of kickback through the
steering
> >wheel. On dirt/gravel/mud/snow/etc, the inside front wheel will slip, but
on
> >pavement it grips too well and you feel it in the steering wheel.
> >
> >On the other hand, some permanent 4wd systems are designed to be driven
both
> >on and off road. My Range Rover, for instance, had a viscous center diff
> >that kept this from happening. You can take this vehicle (or a Discovery,
or
> >a LandCruiser, or many other newer vehicles with permanent 4wd systems)
from
> >the autocross circuit to the highway to the trail without ever adjusting
or
> >changing anything.
> >
> >The key is that if you *can* switch in and out of 4wd, you should use it
> >offroad and in sloppy weather. If you *can't* switch in and out (like on
the
> >Range Rover), there's probably a center diff that keeps the kickback from
> >happening.
> >
> >Lee
> >'95.5 S6 avant
> >'96 A6 quattro avant
>
>